Learning the Hard Way
by Narina Nightfall
Summary: Answer to a Challenge. Aragorn and Legolas pull a prank on the twins and Aragorn makes a new friend. completed


Learning the Hard Way  
  
By: Narina Nightfall  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of Tolkien's characters. Don't feel original enough to entertain you with a disclaimer though. *sigh*  
  
A/N: This vignette is in response to a fic challenge from silverfox. It is a result of an evil little plot bunny. For any of you who don't already know, Estel is the name that Aragorn was given when he was adopted into the House of Lord Elrond. Please, feedback is appreciated. Flames will be given to my imaginary dog. Since I don't want one, he'll never get bigger.  
  
Aragorn sighed. This day had just not been for him. He had tried to do things right, but once again, things had gone wrong. Why did it always happen to him, he wondered.   
  
The day had started out relatively well. Neither he nor Legolas had been sporting any new injuries of any sort and they were to go hunting with his brothers. It wasn't raining, the weather was warm, and it was only slightly foggy. He should have known that it was too good to be true.  
  
They had stopped for the night in a small glade that he had camped in with his brothers once before. Their hunting had gone well; they had caught a deer and several rabbits. The small group of friends moved about in their self-assigned tasks.  
  
Aragorn suddenly heard a small cry coming from the direction of the horses. He frowned. That was where Elrohir was...  
  
"AGH! My eyes!"  
  
"Elrohir?" called Elladan uncertainly.  
  
The twin staggered out from behind Legolas' horse. He squinted at the small group of people waiting expectantly.   
  
"I'm alright," he said. "Estel, your stupid horse stamped dust into my eyes. I told you that you should never have taken him from the horse master, but no, you had to have a special horse."  
  
Aragorn frowned even more, making great, big wrinkles spring into sharp relief on his forehead. He totally disregarded what Elrohir had said, instead staring into space and voicing his thoughts out loud. "What would make Aráto to throw dust in your eyes? He's never done something like that before."  
  
"Not in front of you," whispered Legolas darkly. He had seen Aragorn's horse when he wasn't acting innocent in front of his master. That poor elf hadn't deserved his fate! And he really couldn't imagine what had possessed the stable master to name the horse Aráto. Champion indeed. He should have named the stupid thing Ambar because he'll certainly be my doom, thought Legolas darkly and with much unease.  
  
Aragorn's eyes suddenly flickered back to the here and now. "What did you say, Legolas?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing, nothing," said Legolas, sending the horse uneasy looks. It had a habit of knowing when it was being discussed.  
  
"Well then, let's eat," said the ranger brightly and promptly went to his horse's saddle bags. He pulled out some of the deer meat and something that looked like a piece of broccoli.  
  
"What is that?" asked Legolas with distaste. He was used to the fare of Mirkwood. A small amount of meat from the forest and a salad of some sort. He had loathed broccoli since the age of 20, which was a very long time even in the estimation of elves.  
  
Aragorn sent the elf a pitying look.   
  
"Adar sent brussel sprouts along with us. I could not stop him Legolas. The nearer it gets to the twins birthday, the healthier he wants us to get. I think he suspects that them turning 3000 might lead to us getting in trouble again."  
  
The twins set up camp while Aragorn cooked and Legolas sulkily watched. The sullen wood elf was not feeling happy. Not at all. The only thing giving him any pleasure at all was the thought of strangling Estel in his sleep.   
  
How could the stupid ranger have failed to mention the fact that his father had sent along brussel sprouts? If he'd have known, he would have packed his favorite veggy, carrots. Now, he was starving from hunting all day, he had to eat the thing that he loathed most on Arda, and the meat was taking forever to cook!  
  
"You cook like a Noldor," mumbled the elf over his crossed arms.  
  
Estel smiled brilliantly at him. "Would you care to try then?"  
  
The blond elf smiled. "Yes. I think I would. Its been a while since I've been able to torture your brothers."  
  
The ranger smiled as well. It was a rather scary thing to see. "Just leave this portion untouched. I'll go get the secret ingredient."  
  
Legolas got up slowly and took the spoon from his friend. Aragorn went to Aráto and pulled out a small, green pouch. He handed it to the elf with a particularly evil grin on his face. Then, he began all the chores that his friend had left undone.  
  
The twins soon returned from their trip to get more water, and they sat down beside the small fire. They watched curiously as Legolas stirred the pan. They knew how to cook, but they had never seen their friend do it. They had assumed, that as a prince, Legolas didn't know how.  
  
Soon, dinner was done. Legolas noticeably took next to no brussel sprouts and protesting vehemently when Elladan tried to add more to his plate. The twins took large portions of the meat and vegetable and settled down to eat. Aragorn watched them through his eyelashes and was unsurprised when, a few seconds later, a shriek ran through the forest.  
  
A rather distraught looking dark haired elf faced the ranger a minute later. His face was very red and he looked like he was ready to explode at any second.  
  
"What is wrong, dear brother?" asked Aragorn innocently.  
  
"Nothing, brother mine. What is this unusual root that you've used in the meat?" asked Elrohir through clenched teeth as Elladan could not yet speak.  
  
"You shall have to ask Legolas. He is the one who did the cooking," said Aragorn sweetly.  
  
"Quite true," said Elladan, regaining his voice. "Legolas, why don't you tell us why this tastes so..."  
  
"Good?" said Aragorn. "You know, this is the prince's first meal that he has ever cooked for others besides his family and myself. I think it is quite excellent."  
  
The twins gave their brother a hard look and then started complimenting Legolas on his wonderful dish. It was quite entertaining and would have stayed so if something unexpected had not happened at that very second.  
  
Aragorn and Legolas both turned extremely red at the same time. They started coughing and sneezing and hiccupping. As Aragorn looked at his friend, he knew what had happened. The twins had heard their plan and put lots of their secret ingredient into Legolas' and Aragorn's plates. They usually only used about a spoon full, but there had been so much in the friends' food that they hadn't reacted until five minutes after they'd eaten it.  
  
As Aragorn coughed he sent his brothers as close an approximation of the look as he could get. He knew that Legolas' cooking was terrible. That was why he usually cooked. But it on top of the fact that his throat was full of the hot pepper powder was making him woozy.  
  
Aragorn felt himself spinning and soon all he could see was blackness.  
  
The two woke up in the morning to mouths that felt like they'd been lacerated with soap and scrubbed, rinsed out, and then lacerated again. Unluckily though, they had to get up and get moving because they'd sworn to Lord Elrond that they would get home the day after they went hunting. He, in turn, had said if they hadn't returned by the next day, he would send a full troop of guards after them.  
  
So, they got up and they got dressed. And they sent hateful glares towards the twins all the while. Suddenly, Legolas stood up.  
  
"Did you hear that?" he asked.  
  
"Hear what?" asked Aragorn, still bitter over their defeat. "The sound of your sad excuse for cooking eating and spitting out the remains of some poor elf? Nooooo."  
  
The blonde elf sent a glaring look at the ranger. "It was just as much your cooking as mine. And for your information, my father loves my cooking. When I am home, we eat it every week."  
  
"Yes, but what do you make?" asked the groggy ranger.  
  
A small mumble could be heard coming from the direction of the elf.  
  
"What? I could not hear you," taunted Aragorn.  
  
"SALAD!" shouted Legolas. "I make salad."  
  
The twins, who had been laughing, quickly quieted the two. They had heard the same sound that Legolas had, and they didn't want to be caught unawares when whatever it was got to them.  
  
A small body suddenly crashed into Aragorn. A voice followed it.  
  
"Come back, Erelena" called an exasperated voice. "Do I have to tell your mother that you ran away again?"  
  
The ranger looked up at the child which rested on his chest. His slightly bemused gaze made the small elfling laugh. Legolas frowned at her.  
  
"You look like a girl," stated the small child, taking advantage of a child's safety in insults.  
  
The elf smiled slightly. "But am I a pretty girl?"  
  
"You're prettier than I'll ever be. Nana says I'll never be as pretty as Lady Arwen if I keep on behaving like I do," confided the child. "The truth is..." she said whispering. "I don't want to become a lady and dress pretty. I like the way it is right now."  
  
The blonde elf sent her an understanding nod. "I know what you mean, young one. But a young girl like you must be awfully hungry. I've been told by my friends that I'm a horrible cook, but I know that the baker in Imladris has made two trays of raspberry tarts and if we're careful, I'm sure we can get some for all of us."  
  
The little elf smiled. "Quickly then. To the kitchen."  
  
fin 


End file.
